Oct 19, 2007

Every once in a while a proggy comes along that is simply a staple of your data diet. A requiem for your software library that just seems to always be useful, especially if you follow the advice and antics of The Admin here at AskTheAdmin.com. [and Bauer-Power!]

One of the most talked about subjects here is the issues that arise from being caught without a backup. Now, usually we talk about backups in the PC or laptop sense, but these days PDA's , especially Windows driven ones, are becoming more and more prevalent in society and in our every day life.

It's also inevitable, especially under any build of Windows, that you chance losing your data. Notwithstanding the inherent faults in Windows; having all your life's info in a device that can be dropped, stepped on, kicked, flung accidentally while speaking in an animated fashion (git her done), melted, forgotten and otherwise mistreated can be very precarious.

The need for a backup solution for Windows Mobile has arrived. And along with it is the need for our beloved readers to have access to a totally FREE solution that will allow them to breathe a little easier next time something happens to their phone. A lot of people use Active Sync and Outlook but why should we be locked into a costly and memory intesive solution? And how does that help us on the go?

Enter PPCPIMBackup (Authors HomePage), This tiny little program, with its itsy-bitsy little footprint, does everything you need in a PIM backup solution. Scheduling, an intuitive and simple interface, and the level of depth to name a few; it has all the options you could think of for a PIM backup and more. As the picture shows above, it handles appointments, call logs, contacts, messages, tasks, speed dial, AND it also sports a nifty little custom field, shown above, which you can set to a filter for certain file types or you can choose a folder, or subset of files. This program really has everything one would need in a backup solution.

Best of all I can back up to my memory card while I am outside, keep a copy of my installable file with me and always be good to restore my informationon the fly! This baby even does scheduling!

The backup took mere minutes, but the piece of mind involved in knowing my PIM data is safe is priceless. All the options, shown left, are pretty much self explanatory. PPCPIMBackup supports file compression, scheduling and best of all, it can be installed OTA (over the air, for you noo8s out there) which means you don't have to run it through Activesync for it to work. In fact, the program has such a small footprint it ran right out of HTC Zip's temp memory. The process took less than 5 minutes and ran smoothly all the way through. Although I'm pretty sure if I ran the backup using compression, it would have been slower, but I have TONS of appointments and contacts and even uncompressed, the file was tiny at a mere 218k. Though in all fairness, had I enabled attachments in the backup options, I'm sure that 218k would have been much more.

Also worth noting is the FREE screen shot software I discovered today, which runs on Windows Mobile! Ilium Software's Screen Capture proggy is definitely worth mentioning because it helped me capture the beautiful shots for our review of PPCPIMBackup. This proggy too, will be a staple program in my collection, simply for blogging about Windows Mobile devices. FREE, quick, easy, and tiny footprints are what we love to see here at AskTheAdmin. - C64

This is Commodore 64 signing out for the night kiddies. Pull your teddy bears close, and snuggle into your pillows, because now, thanks to AskTheAdmin, you can rest easy knowing all your data is safe, and all is well with the world.